The Templar Order
The Templar Order is an important political, semi-religious, organization that primarily operates from Great Britain, but is also active in France, Spain, Italy, the West Indies, India, and West Africa. There are small chapters in the Germanic Kingdoms, the Middle East, and Russia as well. The Templar Order is currently led by Grandmaster,' Lord Giovanni Goldtimbers'. History of the Order Middle Ages Founding In 1118, Bernard de Clairvaux decided the Templars needed the Church as an ally. He sent nine men to Solomon's Temple: upon their return nine years later, Grand Master Hugues de Payens and Bernard created the Latin Rule, and reorganized the Templars into a public Order of knights, whose apparent sole purpose was to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land. In the 1129 Council of Troyes, the Order was officially recognized by the church, and in 1139, Pope Innocent II granted them diplomatic immunity in all provinces and territories and exemption from taxes. This allowed the faction to grow in numbers, strength and wealth quickly, and as they became a larger force, their responsibilities increased accordingly: the Order's many members were prominent figures in the Second Crusade. The Chalice In 1190, the Templars had come into possession of a powerful artifact simply known as the Chalice. Hiding it away in the Temple of the Sand, and needing three keys to unlock it. The Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad managed to obtain the keys and break into the Temple in search of the Chalice. Taking the Chalice back to Tyre, the Templars prepared to set sail with it, however they were again confronted by the Assassin, who managed to kill Lord Basilisk. The Templars, however, succeeded in taking the Chalice. Third Crusade By 1191, the Templars had come under the leadership of Robert de Sable. The Templars joined in the Third Crusade that was waging in the Holy Land, and De Sable started secretly recruiting men on both sides of the war. Among these were Garnier de Naplouse, William of Montferrat and Sibrand on the Crusader side, and Tamir, Talal, Abu'l Nuqoud, Majd Addin and Jubair al Hakim on the Saracen side. Unknown to the Assassins however, was that Al Mualim, the Mentor himself had joined with the Templar cause, though only as a means to obtain the Apple for himself. These ten men found an Apple of Eden together in Solomon's Temple, and made a few discoveries with it. When Robert de Sable and a few of his men went to retrieve it from the temple, though, their progress was delayed by a small group of Assassins consisting of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the brothers Malik and Kadar Al-Sayf, who were sent by Al Mualim to retrieve the treasure. Despite Altaïr being routed, Kadar's death, and Malik losing his arm, the artifact was brought into Assassin possession. This event prompted Robert to lead his men to an attack on the Assassins' fortress of Masyaf, but as soon as they arrived at the fortress gates, they were routed by a wave of falling tree logs. Al Mualim sent Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad on a quest to take down nine Templars . One by one, the Templars spread throughout the cities of Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem, fell to Altaïr's blade, until he was assigned to take down Robert de Sable. De Sable had foreseen when his time would come, and assigned Maria Thorpe to impersonate him at Majd Addin's funeral, while Robert himself would ride for Arsuf in an attempt to have the Crusaders and Saracens unite in the face of the “Assassins threat”. The Assassin fell for the trap, but quickly found out about Robert's true location. Robert and Altaïr engaged in a battle at Arsuf before Robert was successful in his plan, and Robert was defeated. Before dying, he revealed to Altaïr that the last Templar was his own master, and the Assassin rode off to his final target. After Altaïr killed Al Mualim, the Apple was ultimately lost to the Assassins. Relocation to Cyprus Control of the Order fell to De Sable's successor, Armand Bouchart. Not too soon afterwards, Bouchart bought the island of Cyprus from King Richard I, which was formerly ruled by the secret Templar Isaac Comnenus. Planning to retrieve all the artifacts that were hidden in Templar Archive underneath Limassol, the Templars set sail from Acre to Cyprus in the fall of 1191. The Templars quickly expanded their reach, starting with building strongholds in Limassol but rapidly taking control of Kyrenia as well. As the Templars used brute force to stay in control, the people formed a Resistance force that aimed to route the Templars from Cyprus. Additionally, the Templars were followed by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, who had taken Maria Thorpe as a captive. Due to Altaïr's efforts, all of Bouchart's generals in Limassol and Kyrenia were assassinated, and the Templars began to lose grip of Cyprus. Despite the loss of many men, the Templars were successful in their objective, because while Altaïr was busy with removing Templar control in Kyrenia, the Templars had shipped out all of the artifacts in the Templar Archive underneath Limassol. After all the artifacts were shipped out, Bouchart found himself confronted by Altaïr in the Archive. The two faced off in a duel, but Bouchart too fell to Altaïr's blade. Returning Underground By 1307, the French King Philip le Bel was manipulated by the French Assassins into accusing the Templars of heresy, forcing Pope Clement V to disband them. The Grand Master Jacques de Molay allowed himself to be burned at the stake to fool his enemies into believing the Templars were destroyed. However, Jacques passed his knowledge of the Ancients to nine of his subordinates, allowing the Order to thrive underground. In 1321, the Templars killed the Italian Assassin Dante Alighieri, making their existence known to the Assassins. Three years later, they also killed the Assassins Marco Polo and the father of Domenico Auditore. Hundred Years' War In 1337, the House of Plantagenet of England attacked the kingdom of France, ruled by the House of Valois. Around 1428, a French girl named Jeanne d'Arc, who had somehow obtained one of the Swords of Eden, joined the French front and lead the French to many victories. However, this caught the attention of the Templars, who had set their sights on the Piece of Eden she had in her possession. In 1430, Jeanne was captured and interrogated by the English, which caused her to lose the Sword to the Templars. In 1431, the Templars executed her by burning. Renaissance ~Under Construction~ Age of Reason Templars looked at the Renaissance as a dark time for the Order: while other men progressed humanity's knowledge, the 15th century Templars led by the debauched Borgia did not care for such ideals, using the Order as a platform to gain power and influence. By the 17th century, the Templars began adjusting their philosophy. Instead of making personal bids for powers, the Templars sought to influence rather than control the leaders and intellectuals of the new age. Early 18th Century & Golden Age of Piracy In the following centuries, the Templars expanded their enterprise to the New World, establishing their first notable Rite in the West Indies, led by Laureano de Torres y Ayala and operating largely out of Havana, Cuba. It was the mission of this branch to locate and secure the First Civilization site known as the Observatory, a complex that would further the Templar goal of influencing world governments through the application of precursor technology to spy, blackmail, and coerce politicians and other men in positions of power. Although the Templars searched for nearly fifty years, it was only in 1715 that they received their first solid lead, locating a Sage named Bartholomew Roberts and bringing him to Havana. With the Sage's knowledge, the Templars planned to finally find the Observatory; however, the Sage's subsequent escape, coupled with the discovery that one of their newest recruits, Duncan Walpole, had been impersonated by the pirate Edward Kenway, set the Order back once again. In the next years, Templar Woodes Rogers, governor of the Bahamas, attempted to dislocate pirates around the region, convincing Benjamin Hornigold and two of his subordinates, Josiah Burgess and John Cockram, to join the Order as pirate hunters. However, Kenway, searching for the Observatory for his own gain, eventually killed all three of the hunters. Roberts resurfaced, became a pirate, and soon took Kenway to the Observatory. In 1720, Kenway finally allied himself with the Assassins, and was tasked with eliminating three targets, two of which, Rogers and Torres, were Templars. Although he attacked Rogers in Kingston, the Templar was able to survive. Disgraced and in heavy debt, the man returned to England, but was expelled from the order for his continued trading in slaves and hot temper. Torres, having finally located the Observatory on his own, rushed to the complex to secure it. However, he was soon followed by Kenway, who managed to make his way through the chamber and assassinate the Grand Master. Second Age of Piracy After the golden age of piracy the Templars, set their eyes on a new target, the East India Trading Company. They had many officials in the EITC, and held positions in the Board of Directors and other areas. Lord Cutler Beckett, the man infamous for his purge of piracy and his eventual embarassing defeat at the Battle of the Maelstrom, was a Master Templar who plotted to use the Company's power to further the Templar's plans and to fund their endeavours. During his time as Director, Beckett was responsible for the destruction of three major ports in the Caribbean, including Port Royal, Tortuga, and Padres Del Fuego, which all sat on ancient precursor sites of great power, Beckett's Mine was opened in Padres Del Fuego to hunt for the Padres precursor site but instead all they found was undead. The Templars also secured the island fortress of Kngshead as a base of operations as well as Fort Charles in Port Royal, and had a hidden vault in Fort Dundee. Beckett also initiated the Battle of Ravens Cove, which completely destroyed the township and its inhabitants, this was all for the purpose of securing El Patron's lost weapons, which were in fact precursor weapons of great power. Once Beckett died, Sir Joseph Grey became director and Lord Governor of the EITC, and he placed Sir Richard Venables in command of the Company's military, which became a dedicated military force for the Templars. The Caribbean was secured as a Templar zone, but they were still harassed by the Assassins. British Raj Thanks to the Templar control of the EITC, they gained complete control of India, almost completely wiping out the Assassins, and securing even more money and power for their order. Sir Richard Venables, a noted Master Templar controlled India for years as Governor-General. Current Members #Lord Giovanni Goldtimbers, Grandmaster of the Order '' #Lord Joseph Grey, ''Master Templar and Chief Advisor to the Grandmaster '' #Lord Richard Venables, ''Master Templar and Vice Advisor to the Grandmaster '' #Ishmael Decksteel, ''Templar Mercenary and Operative '' #Hannah Bluefeather , ''Master Templar and Operative '' #Mathieu O'Malley, ''Templar Mercenary and Bodyguard #Marcus Ironskull, Templar Mercenary #Peter Plankwrecker, Templar Mercenary #Simon Pratton, Templar Mercenary #Les Pear, ''Templar Novice '' Ranks #Grandmaster of the Order - The Supreme Leader of the Templar Order #Master Templar - The Highest rank for a Templar, besides Grandmaster. ##Chief Advisor - The second-in-command of the Order and right-hand man to the Grandmaster ##Vice Advisor - The third-in-command of the Order and left-hand man to the Grandmaster ##Advisor - An advisor to the Grandmaster, and leaders of the Order. #Templar Mercenary - The standard rank a Templar Novice usually reaches, the main force of Templars ##Templar Operative - A slightly higher rank than Templar Mercenary, this is given to Mercenaries that have shown extreme ability. They usually lead teams of Mercenaries. #Templar Novice - The lowest rank in the Templar Order, given to all recruits upon their induction.